The Beaufort Woman: Book Two of The Beaufort Chronicles

by Judith Arnopp

  Edmund Tudor was half-brother to Henry VI, a favourite of the king and endowed with lands and titles to befit his station. As Earl of Richmond, he was a good match for Margaret, and the difference in their ages was not particularly remarkable for the era in which they lived. What was remarkable was the immediate consummation of the marriage. Most child brides were given time to mature before being taken into their husbands’ beds, and history has condemned Edmund Tudor for ensuring possession of Margaret’s lands and estates by getting her with child when she was just twelve years old.

  Margaret and Edmund made their home at Caldicot Castle and at Lamphey Bishop’s Palace in South Wales, where Edmund fulfilled his duty as peacekeeper for the king. After a skirmish and siege, Tudor died in Carmarthen Castle before Margaret had time to give birth. Vulnerable and alone, she turned for protection to Edmund’s brother, Jasper, at his fortress at Pembroke Castle, where she gave birth to a son, whom she named Henry Tudor. Underdeveloped and possibly ill attended, Margaret’s body was so damaged by the birth that she was never able to conceive again.

  Margaret’s third marriage to Henry Stafford, a younger son of the Duke of Buckingham, provided a stable and beneficial match. The marriage seems to have been a happy one, the couple spending much of their time together, with Stafford going some way toward filling the empty shoes of Henry’s father. Although Henry was left in the care of his Uncle Jasper at Pembroke, Margaret and Stafford sent gifts and letters and paid regular visits. However, as the battle for the throne warmed up and York defeated Lancaster, Edward IV took the throne, precipitating a change in circumstances for both Margaret and her son.

  Henry was a lucrative opportunity, and he was given into the custody of William Herbert, to be raised at Raglan Castle in Wales. Contrary to depictions elsewhere in historical fiction, it was quite normal for sons to be raised in the household of a knight. Under any other circumstances, Margaret would have been delighted at his appointment to the household of William Herbert, who was one of Edward IV’s most trusted friends. Of course, in the circumstances after the death of Edward of Lancaster, which saw Henry become the Lancastrian heir, Margaret must have had concerns. Still, we can only speculate.

  Henry was treated well; clothed and educated as befitted his status as Earl of Richmond. Although his estates were given to the king’s brother, George, Duke of Clarence, Henry continued to be addressed as ‘Richmond’. This suggests that the king perhaps intended to reinstate Henry in the future. Herbert’s desire for a marriage between Henry and his daughter, Maud, reinforces this belief. Yet Henry lived in tumultuous times and was destined for an unstable childhood.

  After Warwick’s defection and defeat at Barnet in 1471, the Yorkist king took measures to secure his hold on the throne. The deposed and mentally unstable Henry VI was reported to have suddenly died of ‘melancholy,’ but it is now historically accepted that he was put to death for the security of the realm. With the death of the old king, and his heir, Edward of Lancaster, killed at Tewkesbury the same year, Lancastrian hopes rested solely upon the narrow shoulders of Henry Tudor. Jasper Tudor, realising his nephew’s vulnerability, arranged to have the boy shipped to safety in France, where, to Margaret’s sorrow, he remained for fourteen years.

  The House of York was securely in control of the realm and Henry Tudor’s claim seemed feeble indeed. Edward IV soon had two male heirs to add to his bevy of daughters, and the future of the House of York seemed set. Fate, however, once more took a sharp turn.

  Edward IV, rather like his grandson, Henry VIII, enjoyed an excessive lifestyle; eating too much, drinking too much, and allowing his government of the country to slip. He grew corpulent and over-indulgent, and in 1483, Edward IV collapsed during a fishing trip and died shortly afterwards. The instant the news of his death was made known, trouble broke out again, this time with the dowager queen, Elizabeth Woodville, pitting her will against that of Edward IV’s youngest brother, Richard of Gloucester.

  Initially supportive of his nephew, Gloucester began making arrangements for Edward V’s coronation, but then he made a sudden U-turn. Edward’s heirs were deposed, Gloucester was crowned Richard III in Edward V’s stead, and England was once more plunged into instability. There has been much violent debate over the reasons behind Gloucester’s actions. It could have been a lustful desire for a crown that was not his, or it could have been a genuine concern for the future of England. Before this, Gloucester had been a loyal subject to his brother. Indeed, in his short reign, he showed signs of proving to be a just king. Yet he lacked support, and England was once more rife with intrigue.

  Margaret, now married to her fourth husband, Thomas Stanley, moved stealthily into action. There is little evidence that she was overly fond of the dowager queen, but at this point Margaret united with Elizabeth Woodville and began to work against King Richard. The two women agreed that, on his future ascension to the throne, Henry Tudor should take Elizabeth’s daughter, the heir of York, as his wife and queen. This agreement united Lancaster with the previous adherents of York, who now opposed Gloucester.

  Henry, still in exile, continued to receive the support of his mother. Margaret played a very dangerous game, sending money and letters to keep Henry informed of the events at the English court. After an abortive attempt at invasion, their plotting came to fruition with his victory at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. After a delay, while Henry established himself as king in his own right, his marriage to Elizabeth went ahead, uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster and putting an end to the family feud we now know as The Wars of the Roses.

  It may have been the fact that Henry was her only son that prompted such devotion in Margaret, or perhaps it was her nature, but she never gave up her dream of seeing her son inherit the crown of England. Her years of unwavering devotion to her son’s cause finally received their reward, and she revelled in his success.

  The Beaufort Woman is Book Two of The Beaufort Chronicle.

  The Beaufort Bride: Book One of The Beaufort Chronicle is also available on Kindle and in paperback.

  Book Three: The King’s Mother tracks her path to becomethe most powerful woman in England and valued advisor to her son, the king. It will be available soon.

  A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York and Perkin Warbeck

  In the years after Bosworth, a small boy is ripped from his rightful place as future king of England. Years later when he reappears to take back his throne, his sister Elizabeth, now Queen to the invading King, Henry Tudor, is torn between family loyalty and duty.

  As the final struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster is played out, Elizabeth is torn by conflicting loyalty, terror and unexpected love.

  Set at the court of Henry VII, A Song of Sixpence offers a new perspective on the early years of Tudor rule. Elizabeth of York, often viewed as a meek and uninspiring queen, emerges as a resilient woman whose strengths lay in endurance rather than resistance.

  The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII

  Tudor London: 1540. Each night, after dark, men flock to Bankside seeking girls of easy virtue; prostitutes known as The Winchester Geese.

  Joanie Toogood has worked the streets of Southwark since childhood but her path is changed forever by an encounter with Francis Wareham, a spy for the King's secretary, Thomas Cromwell.

  Meanwhile, across the River, at the glittering court of Henry VIII, Wareham also sets his cap at Evelyn and Isabella Bourne, members of the Queen's household and the girls, along with Joanie, are drawn into intrigue and the shadow of the executioner's blade.

  Set against the turmoil of Henry VIII's middle years, The Winchester Goose provides a brand new perspective of the happenings at the royal court, offering a frank and often uncomfortable observation of life at both ends of the social spectrum.

  The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn

  28th January 1547. It is almost midnight and the cream of English nobility hold their breath as King Henry VIII prepares to face
his God. As the royal physicians wring their hands and Archbishop Cranmer gallops through the frigid night, two dispossessed princesses pray for their father's soul and a boy, soon to be king, snivels into his velvet sleeve.

  Time slows, and dread settles around the royal bed, the candles dip and something stirs in the darkness ... something, or someone, who has come to tell the king it is time to pay his dues.

  The Kiss of the Concubine is the story of Anne Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII's queens.

  Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr

  England: 1537 As the year to end all years rolls to a close, King Henry VIII vents his continuing fury at the pope. The Holy Roman Church reels beneath the reformation and as the vast English abbeys crumble the royal coffers begin to fill.

  The people of the north, torn between loyalty to God and allegiance to their anointed king, embark upon a pilgrimage to guide their errant monarch back to grace. But Henry is unyielding and sends an army north to quell the rebel uprising.

  In Yorkshire, Katheryn Lady Latimer and her step-children, Margaret and John, are held under siege at Snape Castle.

  The events at Snape set Katheryn on a path that will lead from the deprivations of a castle under siege to the perils of the royal Tudor court.

  Intractable Heart is the story of Henry VIII's sixth and final wife.

  The Forest Dwellers

  The People of Ytene are persecuted, evicted from their homes and forced to live in exile from the lands Saxons have inhabited for generations. Life is hard. The Norman interlopers are hated.

  Twelve years after the Norman invasion, three soldiers are molesting a forest girl who is fairer than any they have ever seen. Leo stops the attack in the only way he can ...violently. His actions that day trigger a chain of events that will end only with the death of a king.

  The Song of Heledd

  In seventh century Powys at the hall of King Cynddylan of Pengwern, the princesses, Heledd and Ffreur attend a celebratory feast where fifteen-year-old Heledd develops an infatuation for a travelling minstrel. The illicit liaison triggers a chain of events that will destroy two kingdoms, and bring down a dynasty.

  Set against the backdrop of the pagan-Christian conflict between kings Penda and Oswiu, The Song of Heledd sweeps the reader from the ancient kingdom of Pengwern to the lofty summits of Gwynedd where Heledd battles to control both her own destiny and that of those around her.

  Judith Arnopp has carried out lengthy research into the fragmented ninth century poems, Canu Llywarch Hen and Canu Heledd, and the history surrounding them, to produce a fiction of what might have been.

  Peaceweaver: the story of Eadgyth Aelfgarsdottir

  When Ælfgar of Mercia falls foul of the king and is exiled, his daughter Eadgyth’s life is changed forever.

  Sold into a disastrous marriage with Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, King of the Welsh, Eadgyth ultimately finds herself accused of fornication, incest and treason. Alone in a foreign land, her life is forfeit until a surprise night attack destroys Gruffydd's palace, and Eadgyth is taken prisoner by Earl Harold of Wessex.

  At the Saxon court she infiltrates the sticky intrigues of the Godwin family, and on the eve of his accession to the English throne, she agrees to marry Harold Godwinson.

  As William the Bastard assembles his fleet in the south, and Harald Hardrada prepares to invade from the North, their future is threatened, and the portentous date of October 14th 1066 looms.

  Eadgyth’s tale of betrayal, passion and war highlights the plight of women, tossed in the tumultuous sea of feuding Anglo Saxon Britain.

  All books available on Amazon Kindle or in paperback.

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